Prompt response, old-fashioned service and integrity are the foundations of Insurance Restoration Group (IRG), one of South Australia’s fastest-growing professional restoration teams. Lorraine Day reports.
Formed only eight months ago, IRG is a partnership between Happypom Carpet Cleaning, founded by Ian Phillips, and Paul Anderson’s Metro 3, both in the restoration industry, specialising in flood damage, fire/smoke damage and mould remediation.
Having both been IICRC-trained and certified, they decided last year to join forces to provide a complete service, working primarily for several insurance companies, offering a specialised service in assessment and restoration of damage by water, fire, smoke and mould remediation. IRG team members are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week for emergencies.
“We have the skills, training and accreditation to handle all water, fire and smoke damage, as well as mould remediation,” Anderson said, “combined with good old-fashioned service; it’s a good partnership.
“In a service business like ours, the way you treat the customer is most important, and you’ve got to have integrity; if you don’t have that, you won’t last a minute. You’re only ever as good as your last job.
“That’s why I went into the business,” Anderson revealed. “I’m doing something positive for the community. I look forward to going to work each day; it’s very rewarding, and you often end up being good friends with a lot of the customers.”
Phillips, who has more than 20 years’ experience in the industry, started work in his father’s business in England. Starting at the bottom, he worked his way up through the business and finally became a fully qualified floor layer.
“Having the floor laying experience behind me is on of the best things I could have done for my business,” said Phillips. “Being able to life the carpet or vinyl and inspect the subfloor is a valuable asset and allows us to provide the insurance company with a comprehensive report of the damaged property.”
Now, IRG has a staff of eight, three response vans, 145 air movers, 15 low-grain dehumidifiers, air scrubbers, ozone generators, thermal foggers and other specialised equipment required for specialised restoration services.
For more of this story, see the March/April issue of INCLEAN.